New Jersey teachers' union is seeking to eliminate the basic skills test requirement for aspiring educators, according to a Tuesday press release.
The New Jersey Education Association, representing approximately 200,000 active and retired education professionals, is leading an effort to remove the basic skills test required to become a teacher.
"Now it's time to eliminate another barrier," the NJEA stated.
"New Jersey requires that candidates for teacher certification pass a basic skills test, the Praxis Core Academic Skills for Educators: Reading, Writing and Math, or show SAT, ACT, or GRE scores in the top third percentile the year they were taken," the NJEA stated. "When the New Jersey Department of Education (NJDOE) adopted changes to the administrative code around teacher certification, it missed an opportunity to eliminate this requirement, which created an unnecessary barrier to entering the profession."